Month: April 2008

It’s not uncommon that some of our society’s most brilliant and alluring individuals are often plagued with horrific personal and mental issues. In fact, sometimes these very sicknesses are connected to the individual’s shining moments – a genius and panache that come during moments of extreme highs. But unfortunately, what comes up must come down. And many times those people who seem so self-controlled, self-motivated, and self-confident are also the most haunted and self-destructive. Here’s a list of 20 celebrities who know all-too-much about mental illnesses and the terrifying mood swings that accompany a sick mind.

Britney Spears: Britney Spears’ struggles with mental illness started to exhibit themselves most obviously after her divorce from Kevin Federline and the birth of her two sons. While Spears has yet to go public with a formal diagnosis from her doctor, she has been committed to a mental hospital, has been caught on camera shaving off her hair in a Los Angeles salon, and has had custody of her children revoked. Currently, Spears is still going through treatment and trying to regain the rights to her children. Her father Jamie Spears has been put in charge of her legal and monetary affairs, and while she seems to be keeping a lower profile these days, it’s unclear whether she is getting better at all.

Rosie O’Donnell: With all the attention focused on Britney Spears’ antics these days, Rosie O’Donnell has sought to take some of the heat off the young starlet by speaking out about her own struggles with mental illness, saying she should be the poster child for metal disease. Recently she told a TV talk show host, “I have been on anti-depressants since Columbine.” O’Donnell has said that she believes she is bi-polar, an assumption that might be buffered by her quick temper and recent firing from The View, said to be because of her difficult personality.

Marilyn Monroe: This legendary actress grew up in a world of mental illness. Her maternal grandparents and her mother all suffered from insanity. Her grandfather killed himself and her mother spent most of her adult life in a mental institution, where she died in the 1980s. Monroe kept a cheerful appearance in public, but in private she struggled mightily with depression. Her genetics and the fact that Monroe grew up in a series of foster homes didn’t give her much of a fighting chance against mental ills, and in 1962 Monroe was found dead of a supposed prescription drug overdose.

Tim Burton: The eccentric filmmaker Tim Burton’s mental health has been under debate for many years, with many people assuming he was autistic. It turns out, however, that Burton suffers from bipolar disorder, an illness that afflicts many celebrities. People with bipolar disorder have violent mood swings characterized by extreme highs and crippling lows. Bipolar is also the correct term to describe what used to be called manic depressive disorder. Bipolar people are often said to be more creative, which may help explain Burton’s wildly imaginative films like Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Mike Wallace: 60 Minutes newsman Mike Wallace is known for his hard-hitting news stories and his tough exterior. But in 1984, after one of Wallace’s news reports about the Vietnam War resulted in a $120 million lawsuit, Wallace descended into a deep depression that was misdiagnosed and mistreated for several years. Wallace has since gotten much better and is a public advocate for those suffering from depression. He talks about his experience taking a plethora of drugs in an attempt to treat his illness and he even tried to commit suicide once by overdosing on pills. Today Wallace continues to heal and spends much time talking about depression, even testifying before the Senate about the disease.

Patty Duke: Patty Duke, the all-American TV star, earned an Oscar at the ripe age of 16 for her portrayal of Hellen Keller. But living in a household where she was sexually abused and allowed to drink from a young age, Duke’s emotional problems began to arise. She began to have violent mood swings – dangerous highs and lows, which she later chronicled in a book and TV movie, both titled “Call Me Anna”. She said her first experience with the disease came at the age of 9 in the form of a panic attack, and she then struggled with depression and anxiety during her adolescence. While acting on her hit series “The Patty Duke Show”, Duke’s illness raged forth in a manner that could no longer be ignored. Her managers and childhood guardians got her medical attention, and she became drugged out on the wrong medicines that were ineffective at treating her bipolar disease. Over the years, Duke experienced many hospitalizations and therapies before finally finding the right combination with Lithium. She now lives a happy life and is in control of her illness.

Francis Ford Coppola: Acclaimed movie director Francis Ford Coppola has been the brain behind legendary movies such as “The Godfather” Series and “Apocalypse Now” and he’s the father to another notable director, Sophia Coppola. But despite winning 5 Oscars and earning 36 other award nominations, behind the scenes Coppola also struggles with bipolar disease, which possibly explains why he is thought of as one of Hollywood’s most unpredictable and tempestuous directors. But it’s not uncommon for the disease to afflict such accomplished individuals, such as Coppola. Bipolar disorder is often called The CEO’s Disease because it’s common among many famous and not-so-famous leaders.

Brooke Shields: Brooke Shields has been a leading lady in Hollywood since a child and has survived a high-profile marriage to tennis star Andre Agassi. Now on her second marriage, Shields recently wrote a book called “Down Came the Rain”, which chronicled her struggles with post-partum depression after the birth of her child Rowan. Shields describes in her book about how she heard destructive voices in her head, found it impossible to bond with her baby upon returning from the hospital and had no will to care for her daughter. Shields says she thought of suicide and felt like a failure. Shields tried anti-depressants. They worked and brought her to a place where she could bond with her baby. Though she was criticized heavily by her Scientologist friend Tom Cruise over her decision to medicate, Shields credits it with bringing her out of the fog. She now has a second daughter named Grier.

Roseanne Barr: Comedienne Rosanne Barr was a TV sensation in the 1990s, starring in her self-named series in which she portrayed a dry, mid-western housewife with ease. But Barr is also one of the more controversial and polarizing figures of her time, as her crassness and blunt way of speaking turned many fans away. Her life has had its fair share of drama: she claims she was sexually abused as a child and her highly-publicized marriage to Tom Arnold ended in bitterness with her claiming domestic abuse. Roseanne also claims that she has multiple personality disorder, also known as dissociative personality disorder. While Barr wrote on her blog that she was relieved of many of the disease’s symptoms while on a trip to Israel, she also previously told Larry King in 2001 that she has been known to “regress” during times of great stress and that the disease makes her do “crazy things that you don’t know you do or want to do.” Barr also has been hospitalized for the disorder in the past.

Carrie Fisher: Carrie Fisher is the daughter of Hollywood star Debbie Reynolds and she is best known for playing the role of Princess Leia in “Star Wars”. But despite her privileged pedigree and successful career, Fisher battled depression and bipolar disorder for years. Not knowing what was wrong with her, Fisher turned to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate. Even though a doctor suggested that she was manic and that she try Lithium when she was 24, Fisher didn’t believe him. It was only when she overdosed on drugs at the age of 28 that she began to listen to doctors more intently. Though Fisher says she’s experienced trouble with Lithium and has regressed in treatment, it eventually helped her calm her demons. Fisher wrote “Postcards from the Edge”, a bestselling book about her disease. She has also been recognized by many mental health associations for her work at raising awareness about the disorder.

Jim Carrey: Jim Carrey grew up in an eccentric family, where everyone had to pitch in for rent. When his father lost his job, the family sank into poverty and everyone had to work, a situation that forced Carrey to drop out of high school. Now, Carrey is a riotously funny actor who’s made tens of millions of dollars acting crazy in front of the camera. Turns out part of that craziness can be attributed to the fact that he has long suffered from depression and has admittedly taken Prozac during bad spells. During a 60 Minutes interview, Carrey admitted to being on the drug for “a long time” before finding God and abandoning the medication for a strong ritual of spirituality. “I had to get off at some point because I realized everything is OK,” he said. Today, Carrey is dating Jenny McCarthy and together the two of them are raising McCarthy’s autistic son.

Sinead O’Connor: Controversial Irish singer Sinead O’Connor made her fortune off her unique voice and buzz-cut hairdo. She also made headlines for ripping up a picture of the pope on a “Saturday Night Live” appearance. But it turned out that there was an explanation for her combative behavior and often-times attitude of anger toward the world – she was suffering from bipolar disorder and depression. O’Connor says that she started having very persistent thoughts about suicide at the age of 23 that clouded everything else in her life. She finally took herself to a hospital for the third time seeking psychiatric treatment. Though her previous therapies and admissions had never brought forth a diagnosis, this time it stuck and O’Connor was revealed to have bipolar disorder. She was prescribed medication, which she said has helped her enormously. She now lives outside Dublin and is the mother to four children.

Hugh Laurie: “House” star Hugh Laurie plays a mentally disturbed doctor on TV, but in his real life Laurie has struggled with depression for many years, having received a clinical diagnosis for the disorder. While he continues to receive psychiatric treatment, he also has said that the disorder is not helped by the fact that he has to live in L.A., thousands of miles away from his family in London, while shooting his series. Laurie said that he first realized something was wrong with him while at a demolition derby where he felt “bored” by the exploding cars.

Linda Hamilton: Linda Hamilton plays a tough lady in “The Terminator”, but in her private life she suffered anxiety attacks and a crippling depression from bipolar disorder. Hamilton, who says her father had also self-diagnosed himself with bipolar, said she was an overeater as a young woman trying to deal with depression. She drifted from food to drugs and alcohol, saying she was an alcoholic and wild child for some time. When Hamilton found success in Hollywood, her disease worsened and though she has been in some form of treatment since the age of 22 she was prone to frantic moods and wild outbursts. After the birth of her child, she succumbed to an even deeper depression and paranoid thoughts about his safety and suicidal thoughts of her own. Once diagnosed, she tried to treat her illness with diet and exercise, but eventually went on medication and says today she has found some balance.

Maurice Benard: Similar to the path that Carrie Fisher took, Benard also suffers from bipolar disorder and also has had several psychotic experiences on his journey through treatment. Benard, who stars as Sonny on the soap opera “General Hospital”, recently went on the Oprah show to discuss his harrowing experience with bipolar disorder. He was diagnosed in his 20s and went on to meet and marry a woman, who knew about the disease. Benard says his lowest moment came during a night when his wife’s nieces were sleeping over and he, in a drunken and manic rage, threatened to kill all of them. Since that night, he says, he’s never stopped taking his medication again. But Benard says there were signs of his depression even before his diagnosis when he used to drink heavily as a teenager. He still works on “General Hospital” and has been recognized by many for coming forward with his story.

Jean-Claude Van Damme: Martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme is best known for his ripped physique and action-packed movies. But perhaps the catalyst for his obsession with martial arts and physical training came from a depression that has plagued him since he was a child. Van Damme says as a young man he would work out endlessly to combat feelings of depression and self-loathing and that a day away from the gym was a day in the dumps. In 1993, he began using cocaine seriously to self-medicate, but three years later he checked himself into rehab. After a near-suicide attempt, Van Damme sought treatment and was diagnosed as bipolar. He now takes medication, which he says has turned his raging inward storm into a calm “lake.”

Ben Stiller: Comedic actor Ben Stiller followed his parents’ footsteps in becoming an actor, but he also followed them in other ways. Both of his parents and Stiller have spoken out about depression. In 2001, Stiller spoke out about his own diagnosis of being bipolar, saying he has not been “the most easygoing guy.” Stiller is being treated for the disorder, and says there is a “rich history” of it in his family.

Owen Wilson: Funny man Owen Wilson seemed to be living the life of a high-rolling Hollywood bachelor, starring in the hottest flicks and dating some of the most beautiful women, such as Kate Hudson. But in the summer of 2007, this image came to a screeching halt after it was reported that Wilson tried to commit suicide by slicing his wrists and taking a bunch of pills. The suicide attempt was attributed to many things – like his break-up with Hudson – but sources indicated that the troubles went much deeper. Wilson, who has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and spent time in rehab in 2000, was said to still be using illicit substances regularly and trying to treat a deep depression through self-medication. Friends said he had sunk into a deep depression weeks before the suicide attempt, and he is now said to be taking anti-depressants. He has since rebounded from the ordeal and appears to be doing better.

Winona Ryder: Doe-eyed Winona Ryder became a tabloid hit in 2001 when she was caught shoplifting quite a bit of contraband from a Saks Fifth Avenue store. She stood trial for the crime, pleading not guilty. During her arrest, however, Ryder was also caught with many prescription drugs on her person for which she didn’t have prescriptions. Since that incident, Ryder has spoken about her struggles with anxiety attacks and depression, saying that she has tried hospitalizations, medication, and therapy and said she sometimes feels “broken and confused.” Ryder continues treatments, is in a relationship, and has starred in a few movies in the past few years.

George Michael: 80s music sensation George Michael has had a glamorous life with some tawdry details. In 1998, Michael, who is gay, was in a public restroom with a cop who later arrested the singer for lewd behavior. In 2006, Michael was arrested for possession of drugs, investigated for driving under the influence, and arrested again for drugs in three separate incidents. He has admitted to problems with drugs and to suffering from depression.

We like the design because it’s personalized, it shows smart use of the skull-and-crossbones clipart (via the pirate theme), and it kinda rhymes (Sherry’s First Mate….Two Thousand Eight). Overall, an excellent design.

It was once again very difficult to choose because of all the great submissions. We had almost 900 (!) entries this time, and we were really thrilled with all the creativity and hard work on display. Thanks so much to all who entered!

And with that, Contest 4 is launched. Simply create, save and tag your design “contest 4”. Look for a post soon with all the details.

Hello. Welcome to the Second edition of the All about Celebrities Blog Carnival. The first edition was great and we got a lot of fun an interesting submissions. We made some cuts for the last one to only bring out the best of the best. With that said, I give you the Second Edition of the All About Celebritites Blog Carnival.

Thanks again to everyone who submitted to the second volume of the “All About Celebrities Blog Carnival” Keep submitting and we’ll keep publishing. Its a lot of fun to see all of the submissions that we get each time and this one did not disappoint either. See you next time.

This is an ongoing contest, so after we choose a winner for Contest 3, Contest 4 will launch immediately. We’ll choose the winner right around April 22nd and announce it in this blog. We’ll also alert the winner by email.

The design we choose will be used to advertise Customized Girl, so keep that in mind when creating your designs. We’re looking for something that is obviously personalized, and hopefully smart, funny, and cute too! We know that’s a lot to ask for, but the bar has been set pretty high by the previous entries.

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If you’ve never saved a design before, here’s a quick lesson:

Choose any piece of apparel from one of our many categories (we recommend Her Tops and Undies). In the Design Center you can add text, clipart, and your own images. Everything is adjustable, so feel free to experiment with the text styles, colors, sizes, etc.

Most importantly, be sure to save your design once you’re finished. Just click the save button in the Design Center, which looks like this:

(If you’re not already logged in, you’ll have to log in or create an account at this point. Don’t worry it’s super easy and takes 5 seconds.)

On the next page name your design, choose the first tag from the drop down menu, and add “Contest 3” as an additional tag.

Be sure to leave your Share Option as “share”. Then click “Save” and you’re done!

*You must be 18 years old to claim your prize.

*Enter as many times as you want. You do not have to purchase your design to be entered into the contest. Thanks so much for participating and good luck!

In Hollywood, being thin is of paramount importance. The accusation of having an eating disorder could be (and has been) made of the majority of females on the big and small screen. And, in some regards, who can blame them? Normal figures are criticized at every turn as being overweight – anything over a size 4 is considered “heavy.” With pressure coming from journalists, agents, movie producers, and fans, many celebrities have gone to dramatic lengths to shed the pounds. Here are a few who have admitted to having issues with food.

Nicole Richie: Nicole Richie, who became famous for being Paris Hilton’s best friend, has denied time and time again that she has an eating disorder. But after appearing on the first two seasons of The Simple Life, Richie, allegedly responding to the comparison of her figure next to Hilton’s, quickly lost a stunning amount of weight. Seemingly overnight, she went from a healthy 120 pound female to an 85 pound waif. Despite the public outcry over her emaciated frame, Richie maintained she did not have an eating disorder. But in 2006, she started seeking treatment saying she couldn’t put on weight, and she also admitted that she thought she was too thin. Today, Richie looks much healthier, though still very slim, after the birth of her first child in January.

Felicity Huffman: This thin star of Desperate Housewives has been very forthcoming about her own struggles with bulimia and anorexia, which occurred when the actress was in her teens and 20s. At one point, the 5-foot-5-inch actress dropped down to 98 pounds. Huffman, who is married to actor William Macy, said she spent a lot of time during her earlier years “throwing up and figuring out what kinds of foods you can throw up and what kinds you can’t.” Huffman credits a therapist and the support of her husband for bringing her through the ordeal and helping her to restore a healthy body image. She now works out with a trainer and maintains a healthy diet.

Tracy Gold: Star of the popular TV show Growing Pains, Tracy Gold spent much of her early career looking like the girl next door and weighing a healthy 133 pounds. But during the 1990s, Gold underwent a bodily transformation, losing over 40 pounds and starving herself to well below 100 pounds. Observers were shocked, and Gold’s battle with anorexia was so apparent to her friends, family, and the public that Gold went on more than one trip to a therapist to seek treatment for the disorder. In 1991, Gold was suspended from Growing Pains for being so thin – reports said she weighed about 80 pounds at her lightest. At one point, Gold said she looked in the mirror and thought she was looking at “death.” After her recovery, Gold became a spokeswoman for anorexia, writing a book about her battles and starring in a miniseries about the illness.

Allegra Versace: The 20-year-old daughter of Donatella Versace has been a walking skeleton for many years now, appearing alongside her mother at events with bones sticking through her skin. Though the family initially denied that anything was wrong, the proof was too evident to refute. In 2007, Allegra entered out patient treatment at UCLA and has since filled out a little and looks healthier. Allegra is the major inheritor of her uncle Gianni Versace’s fashion empire and is valued at more than $500 billion.

Fiona Apple: Fiona Apple’s music career took off with the release of her first album Tidal. In the video for her song Criminal, Apple appears emaciated and clad in underwear singing to the camera. She has since been criticized by many for that video, most notably by comedienne Janeane Garofalo, who say that Apple was a hypocrite for denouncing Hollywood’s equation of thinness with beauty and then being so thin herself. At the time the video was shot, Apple weighed a measly 95 pounds and admitted to having anorexia, which she said she developed after being raped when she was 12 by an intruder at her mother’s house in New York City. Though still thin, Apple said she has purposefully tried to put on weight to be a better role model for girls.

Katherine McPhee: The American Idol star came forward about her five year struggle with bulimia while she was on the show. During the height of her illness, McPhee admitted that she would throw up sometimes seven times a day. When she made it onto Idol, McPhee said she started to realize that her purging habit could potentially ruin her voice and her shot at stardom. She checked into a three month long treatment program with the support of her parents and then-boyfriend, now-husband, Nick Cokas. She successfully completed the program and says she is now the healthiest she’s ever been. She now practices what she calls “intuitive eating,” a program that teaches recovering bulimics and anorexics that no food is bad. Today McPhee is married and working on her solo music career.

Mary Kate Olsen: Mary Kate Olsen and her twin sister Ashley are some of the richest young celebrities out there. They’ve been famous since they were babies and starred on the TV sitcom Full House. Growing up they starred in countless DVD movies and launched their own clothing line. But in 2003 and 2004, Mary Kate began drawing attention to herself when she started appearing at movie premiers looking gaunt and rail-thin. Despite months of public denials, including a Saturday Night Live skit where she made fun of her thin frame, Mary Kate entered treatment in Utah for anorexia and successfully completed the program. Though she looks healthier since entering treatment, Olsen is still pretty slim and has not been very forthcoming about her issues with food.

Paula Abdul: Now known best for her crazy antics and gig as one of the judges on American Idol, Abdul used to have a pretty successful music career of her own back in the early 1990s, and she was also once a L.A. Lakers cheerleader. But behind the scenes, Abdul battled a nasty case of bulimia that plagued her for 17 years. Abdul told a prime time news show in 1995 that she always viewed herself as short and fat and believed that she hid behind bulimia as a way to inflict punishment on herself. When she decided to confront her issue once and for all, Abdul entered psychiatric treatment and has since adopted healthy eating habits.

Princess Diana: Princess Diana broke tradition in many ways during her time as royalty. One of her taboo admissions was discussing her struggle with bulimia publicly. Speaking about her difficult adjustment to life as a Princess, Diana said she initially couldn’t understand the public’s interest in her, since she always felt like a “fat, chubby kid.” While also admitting to self-injury in other forms, Diana described bulimia in this way, “You inflict it upon yourself because your self-esteem is at a low, and you don’t think you’re worthy or valuable. You fill your stomach up four or five times a day – some do it more – and it gives you a feeling of comfort.” Diana said she would purge several times a day, and that the people around her were not very supportive to her cries for help. She suffered for several years before stopping.

Oprah Winfrey: Overeater Oprah Winfrey has had a lifelong struggle with weight gain and yo-yo dieting, and she has lost and gained a significant amount of weight many times during her career as a talk show host. At her heaviest she weighed 237 pounds. In fact, during her early days, her weight caused her to lose TV jobs and earn the ire of many bosses. Now, Oprah focuses on living a healthy lifestyle, which she espouses through her show. Though she still has weight fluctuations, Oprah exercises every day and has made a commitment to healthy eating by working with health guru Bob Greene.

Karen Carpenter: One of the most successful singers of the 1970s, Karen Carpenter began seriously dieting in 1967 when her doctor put her on a water diet, causing her to lose 20 pounds off her 5-foot-4-inch frame. She dropped to 115 pounds and was encouraged by the positive feedback she received. The initial weight loss would be just the beginning of Carpenter’s downward spiral. Over the next decade, Carpenter ravaged her body by taking unnecessary thyroid pills, overdosing on laxatives and starving herself. At her lowest moment, she weighed only 85 pounds. At the age of 32, her body finally gave out, and she died of cardiac arrest at her California home.

Wynonna Judd: Country music star Wynonna Judd has had her ups and downs in the spotlight, including a failed marriage and a DUI arrest. Her weight has also gone up and down in the spotlight, and Judd entered treatment for an overeating disorder in 2006 that caused her to balloon to larger than a size 18. Judd blames her dependence on food on the fact that she sustained sexual abuse at a child and learned in adulthood that she and sister Ashley Judd had different fathers. But this year, Judd publicly supported as spokeswoman the National Association on Eating Disorders’ ‘Embrace Your Genes’ campaign, a campaign that urges women to feel comfortable in their skin and give away the jeans that don’t fit them anymore. In a TV interview, Judd said, “Unfortunately, in my 20s and 30s I spent so much time trying to just be loved and accepted. I spent a lot of time reacting to the pressures of the world. I think when you hit 40, you go, ‘You know what, I’m not gonna do that to myself anymore.”

Sharon Osbourne: Wife of drug and alcohol addicted Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne comes off like one tough woman. She’s survived cancer, her husband trying to kill her in a drunken rage, and a painful childhood. She’s also had every plastic surgery procedure known to man and has even had her stomach stapled shut in an attempt to “cure” her overeating and bulimia disorders. As recently as 2004, however, Osbourne has said that the operation didn’t work quite like she had hoped and that she still purged frequently, even to her family’s knowledge. She has said that she intends to get help, but whether she has finally conquered the disease or not has yet to be revealed.

Lara Flynn Boyle: Lara Flynn Boyle has sustained years of speculations that she has an eating disorder. Pictures of her skeletal figure have long graced the pages of magazine covers with shocking headlines and photos of her bony frame in a bikini. In 2003, she was the talk of the town when she showed up emaciated in a ballerina costume to the Golden Globes. In the days since then, Boyle has managed to put on enough weight to at least cover her protruding bones, but still denies she’s ever had an issue with food.

Victoria Beckham: Posh Spice admitted that she had an eating disorder for some time in her biography Learning to Fly. She said that she was “obsessed” with dieting and with how her body looked and that she got turned on to taking extreme measures from fellow Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, who counseled Beckham to start consuming liquid meals in the early days when the girl band was being pressured by their managers to be super thin. But while she admits to toying with anorexia and extreme dieting in the past, Beckham admits nothing about the present, despite the fact that she is as bony and thin as she has ever been at any point in her career. Today Beckham credits that with a healthy, disciplined diet high in fish and vegetables.

Celebrities, with their all-consuming vanity, monstrous paychecks, and petty concerns, often don’t get along with each other. It’s only natural what with all the competition in Hollywood. There’s competition over jobs, money, and, of course, men. Here’s a list of the biggest celebrity feuds to blow up in the media.

Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie grew up together in Beverly Hills and took their lifelong friendship onto TV when they both agreed to the hit reality show The Simple Life. But soon after the end of the third season in 2005, the two had a mysterious fight that became apparent when they stopped showing up at every social function arm in arm. While the source of the two-year feud has been somewhat mysterious, with neither party confirming how it started, the word on the rumor mill is that Richie thought it would be funny to screen Hilton’s infamous sex tape during an L.A. party held to honor Hilton. Richie denies that ever happened, and in 2006 the pair suddenly decided to make up and launched into an orchestrated reconciliation with a host of public appearances. Now, the friendship is going strong. The duo appeared on The Simple Life together again last year and are now dating twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden!

Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag: Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag went from pseudo celebrities to front page news after their televised feud began on The Hills, the sort-of reality MTV show that spun off from Laguna Beach. When Montag began dating playboy Spencer Pratt, the arguments between the two best friends began. Montag resented Conrads constant criticism of her boyfriend, and Conrad resented the fact that Montag immediately seemed to ditch her for her new relationship. Eventually the resentment, and Pratt’s constant degrading of Conrad, split the friendship apart. Today, the women continue to fight publicly and consistently dis each other in the press. Each woman is a frequent Us Weekly cover girl, the headline often expressing a nasty sentiment. With all the bad karma generated between these two, it would seem reconciliation is a longshot.

David Letterman and Jay Leno : Once good friends, Jay Leno began appearing on his buddy David Letterman’s late night talk show in the early 1980s when he was just a budding comedian. But when Leno nabbed Johnny Carson’s spot as host of The Tonight Show in 1992, when Carson retired, Letterman’s became incensed and his bitterness has lasted through today. After following Carson for many years, Letterman assumed he would move up into the coveted chair as host of the show. When it went to Leno, Letterman publicly expressed his frustration over having given Leno such a prominent platform on his own show. Letterman ended up leaving the network for CBS where he became host of The Late Show. He has consistently beat Leno in the ratings since, but despite a plea from Leno to kiss and makeup the two men remain estranged.

Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff: Even though Lindsay Lohan has had many feuds with many fellow female celebrities, including Ashlee Simpson, Scarlet Johansson, and Paris Hilton, her most publicized tiff was with Hillary Duff, who dated Lohan’s ex-boyfriend — the washed-up heartthrob Aaron Carter. According to some rumors, Carter cheated on Lohan with Duff. According to others, he cheated on Duff with Lohan. The fight escalated at the 2003 premiere of Duff’s movie Cheaper By the Dozen when Lohan showed up, infuriating Duff and sparking her and her entourage to leave. Today, with Carter a distant memory for both women, the feud seems to have dissipated, and the two were even spotted hugging at a 2007 event.

Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell: These two supermodels have held deep-seated resentments toward each other since the beginnings of their modeling careers. As two of the only black supermodels on the fashion scene, Banks publicly stated that Campbell consistently verbally attacked her at photo shoots and even had her thrown off a couple of sets because of an argument. Banks said that she had always felt threatened by Campbell, who has a notorious reputation as an aggressive diva. Banks even claimed that Campbell approached her backstage at one show and said, “You’ll never be me. Don’t think you’ll ever be me.” In 2005, however, the two women had a tearful and heartfelt makeup session on the set of Banks’ talk show and since then the whole thing seems to be water under the bridge.

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal : To Shaquille O’Neal, the L.A. Lakers team had one leader – him. But when young hot shot Kobe Bryant came on the team that all changed. His superstardom and king-sized ego created instant warfare between the two, with O’Neal started demanding that Bryant kowtow to his seniority and position of authority. When that didn’t happen, and when Lakers officials started rewarding Bryant’s athletic prowess with money and praise, it was a war of self-inflated egos that took off in the press. In one of his rap songs in 2004, O’Neal spit words against Bryant, and blamed him for his eventual trade to the Miami Heat. Word on the street is that these two tall guys are still not even close to being friends.

Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears: These two have been in competition since starring on the Mickey Mouse Club together. But when their independent singing careers blew up, the friendly competition became full-blown disdain. While Spears was more of the commercial success, Aguilera’s freight-train voice brought in all the awards. In 2003, the two women tried to play nice during an MTV Video Music Awards performance with Madonna, where both Spears and Aguilera smooched Madge on the mouth. Spears’ open-mouthed approach won all the press attention, but Aguilera shot back saying that during rehearsals Spears seemed like a nervous and insecure lost little girl. While not publicly arguing, the two women still could not be described as friends.

Heather Locklear and Denise Richards: Talk about cold, Locklear and Richards were best friends for many years, with Richards even being one of a few of Locklear’s best friends to be invited to her cozy Locklear’s 44th birthday celebration. The two women became very close after meeting on the set of Spin City in 2001. But when Locklear’s marriage to Richie Sambora crumbled in 2006, Richards, fresh out of her split from Charlie Sheen, went in for the kill. According to some rumors, Locklear suspected that Sambora and Richards had relations before their divorce, but regardless, it’s not cool to date your best friend’s ex-husband even after the divorce. Even though the romance between Richards and Sambora was short lived, chances are there’s no reconciliation in the stars for these two bombshells.

Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur: Again a rivalry that began with friendship, rap stars Notorious BIG, a.k.a. Christopher Wallace or Biggie, and Tupac Shakur had bridged the divide between East Coast and West Coast rap and had even collaborated on songs. But as the rift between the East Coast and West Coast rap scenes deepened, so did the rift between these two men. In 1994, Tupac was shot five times outside of a New York studio. He survived the shooting, but blamed in on Biggie and his pals at Bad Boy Records, which included Sean “Puffy” Combs. Biggie denied the allegation, but alluded to it in a song on his new album. Tupac shot back with a song of his own, in which he said he had slept with Biggie’s wife, R&B star Faith Evans. The beef between the men’s two record companies was on. Tupac died a couple of years later in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas; Biggie was similarly killed in 1997 in California. Both murders remain unsolved.

Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump: When billionaire Donald Trump announced that he would not fire his cocaine-using Miss USA winner Tara Conner, O’Donnell used her perch as a host of The View to publicly criticize the real-estate tycoon, calling him “a snake-oiled salesman.” Trump followed back calling O’Donnell a “fat loser.” And on and on it went. The feud made all of the top TV talk shows and then fizzled out. But while the heat of the moment has passed, these two TV stars still hold a deep-seated hatred for one

Alyssa Milano and Shannen Doherty: Doherty and Milano started out as best friends on the set of their hit TV show Charmed, which also starred Holly Marie Combs. But after a couple of years of long-hard days together, the friends turned into bitter enemies, with the show’s producers even sending in an outside mediator to help squelch the bickering between the two. That didn’t work and the same diva spirit that got Doherty ejected from the cast of Beverly Hills 90210 eventually got her ejected from the cast of Charmed, making her one of the most frequently fired actresses in Hollywood. In the end, it was nothing more than on-set jealousies that stood between the two with Milano admitting, “We definitely didn’t get along. Shannen and I are two very different people.” Milano remained on the now-defunct show and the two remain estranged.

Shanna Moakler and Paris Hilton: Pretty much everyone, it seems, hates Paris Hilton. The starlet has been implicated in dozens of feuds with fellow Hollywood celebutants, but the mix-up she had with Shanna Moakler was one of the more virulent scraps. Moakler and her hubby Travis Barker, the drummer for Blink 182, split in August 2006, at which point he began a heavily photographed affair with Hilton. Though Moakler acted initially unaffected by the romance, things came to a head in October 2006 when the ladies ran into each other at Hollywood hotspot Hyde Lounge and ended the night by filing police reports against each other. Moakler accused Hilton’s ex-boyfriend of knocking her down the stairs and pouring his drink on her; Hilton accused Moakler of hitting her in the jaw. Moakler has since reconciled with her hubby, but not with Hilton.

Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields: The rift between these two longtime friends was short lived but pretty dramatic. After giving birth to her daughter, Shields went through a long bout of postpartum depression, which she treated by using the antidepressant Paxil for a short time. After her recovery, Shields went on Oprah to discuss her experience and encourage other women going through similar experiences. Shortly after, Cruise lashed out at Shields during an interview with Matt Lauer, during which he said that she shouldn’t have used antidepressants to combat her feelings, but that she should have turned to vitamins and Scientology for help. When Lauer questioned Cruises’ scientific basis, Cruise said that neither Lauer nor Shields understood psychiatry. Cruise has since apologized to Shields for criticizing her, and Shields even attended his wedding to Katie Holmes.

George Michael and Elton John: This feud began when Elton John told members of the press that he thought Michael was a drug addict with “a deep-rooted unhappiness in his life.” John also called his pal’s new album Patience “disappointing” and said “My message to George would be that you need to get out more.” Michael, extremely hurt by the comments, refused to speak to John for over nine months, and wrote a letter to a British celebrity magazine saying John barely even knew him. The duo finally reconciled over dinner at John’s house catered by TV Chef Gordon Ramsey.

Stella McCartney and Heather Mills: The daughter and former wife of Beatle’s star Paul McCartney have been well-known foes since Mills married Paul in 2002. While Stella and Mills respectfully kept their ill-willed comments about each other out of the press, it was widely rumored that McCartney felt Mills was a money-hungry gold digger. The two were rarely seen together during her father’s four-year marriage to Mills and when the two split and Mills publicly accused McCartney of hitting his first wife, Stella’s mother Linda McCartney, McCartney called Mills a “b*tch and a liar.” Mills responded by taking out a restraining order against Stella and forbidding her from seeing her half-sister. The divorce has been finalized, but the bad feelings between these two women remains.

Hello All and welcome to the first editon of the All About Celebrities Blog Carnival. I think we’ve got some good things lined up that everyone can enjoy. Thank you to everyone who submitted to the Blog Carnival. We received so much good content that could only post the best of the best. Those whose didn’t make the cut don’t be alarmed you might just make it into a later issue of the All about Celebrities Blog Carnival. Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone again who submitted. Keep submitting and we’ll keep publishing. Hope everyone enjoyed the First Edition of the All About Celebrities Blog Carnival. Look for the next edition in 2 weeks.